How China's air pollution worries led to a curb in coal use

As an activist who has been working on the air pollution issue from the Greenpeace Beijing office for over two years, I’ve directly experienced all the crazy headline-grabbing polluted days and watched a fierce fight unfold between policies of prioritizing GPD growth and a public cry for clear air.

The first time I came to Beijing was in 2008, right after Chinese New Year. Standing on the second ring road of the capital, my initial impression of Beijing was that of a city that is cold and grey. I, like many others in Beijing, never paid much attention to air quality back then, even though the sky was a weird grayish hue during the entirety of that stay.

Months later, with the Beijing Olympics approaching, the city skies suddenly took on a blue color. People passing by would stop, look up and say to one another: "What a lovely day today." It was a simple joy we could all experience during the Games. Only later we learned the central government had artificially created those blue skies for the purposes of the Olympics.

In 2008, the Greenpeace Beijing office published an assessment of the environmental performance of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games called China after the Olympics: Lessons from Beijing. The report said: "Short-term solutions such as temporary industry closures, halting construction and vehicle restrictions might help Beijing meet WHO standards during the period of the Games, but they are not long-term solutions. Only through tackling fundamental causes of air pollution by reforming energy structure, improving public transportation and enforcing strict emission standards for industries will Beijing see the benefits of the Games long after."

As predicted the effects manually created by short-term regulations quickly faded. Beijing’s air worsened soon after the Olympics, and yet, something else had changed more permanently. The dramatic difference felt by the people living in Beijing during those magical two weeks left a niggling thought in their minds.

The air pollution debate in China is a story of how big things can have small beginnings, of hope beyond hope. But at the heart of this is a tale of genuine people power, starting with the Chinese people waking up to the tragedy that is the gray air around them and then rightfully demanding clean air.

The reason the air is not as good as what THEY are reporting is because they are lying to you. How much does it have to become polluted before the people DEMAND severe controls on limiting the factories and major sources of polution be SHUT DOWN. That's the ONLY way you are going to resolve the problem.Either they find ways to make their products that won't pollute the hell out of everything or they shut down the institution that makes the product until they come up with environmental ways to have a market. You are poisoning yourselves and the Gov't continues lies about how they are cutting back on coal etc etc etc...what a crock. I was there last month and had to come home because I couln't breathe the air! Pitiful.